More than a dozen financial advisers claim to have given speeches at Harvard Business School or the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, but they weren’t invited to speak by those leading universities.

Instead, they were invited by Clint Arthur, an erstwhile screenwriter, former taxi driver and organic-butter salesman who rents club space on campus, throws up staging emblazoned with symbols resembling the school’s insignia, invites celebrities like actress Suzanne Somers –- and enables advisers to adorn themselves with the prestige of Harvard or West Point….